MIAMI — Find any team in any sport that’s won as much as the Miami Heat have the past two months and it would be easy for said team to develop a certain sense of entitlement.

That’s just the nature of the success beast, even when you are fighting against such things.

Rolling up 25 straight wins, the second-best streak in NBA history, would be cause for celebration anywhere else but here. The Heat tried that premature celebration thing three years ago and it blew up in their faces in The Finals, when the Dallas Mavericks ruined their parade plans.

So the reminders to stay humble and focused on the task at hand are already ingrained in this bunch, from Erik Spoelstra and his detail-oriented coaching staff to a locker room full of players, from superstars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade all the way down to its most recent addition Chris “Birdman” Andersen.

“All you have to do is look at our first halves the last couple of games,” veteran forward Shane Battier said. “We have room to improve. By no stretch of the imagination are we playing our best basketball right now. We are winning ballgames, but we have a lot of room for improvement.”

Room for improvement for a team that hasn’t lost a game since Feb. 1?

Sure, whatever you say Shane.

Then again, when you have a Charlotte team with the worst record in the league coming to town Sunday as you prepare for win No. 26 in the streak, you stay focused by any means necessary.

“We have a coaching staff that will tell us,” Chris Bosh said. “We just have guys who really stay on each other and nobody gets ahead of themselves. We know that you have to stay humble. If you have success, you take it in stride.”

That doesn’t mean the Heat have shed any of the core confidence that made them champions last season.

“We expect to win every game,” Bosh said. “”I’ve always expected to win every game. And now we’re actually winning every game.”

Winning every game in all kinds of ways. The comebacks have been a bit dramatic of late. The Heat’s low energy starts are a concern, but as James put it, “I’d rather come out the way we’ve come out and finish strong than come out strong and finish weak.”

That’s sound logic when you can change a game in an instant with a play on either end of the floor. But players play and coaches coach. And no coach worth his whistle is going to suffer through the sluggish starts the Heat have without going back to his tool box to try to fix it.

“It’s an area we need to address,” Spoelstra said. “This team has shown that now for three years that when there’s a particular aspect of the game we’re not playing the way we are capable of, we address it. We show up. We work on it and we try to improve on it. Hopefully, it will change on Sunday.”

Even if it doesn’t change Sunday, it has to change. The playoffs are coming and sluggish starts won’t get it done in the postseason.

82 Comments

i’m sure this (don’t ever click…) is the real thing. he’s a laker butt hurt kobetard fan. wer u at when the lakers are at the 12th place. looooool! still insecure with the heat. just be thankful that the jazz are so struggling to win, that lakers might get to the playoffs just barely winning 40 games at least. smh

The Heat went through a tough stretch there when the streak was around 22-23 games, and after those close wins they got better, persevered and kept winning. I think the Nuggets are in the same boat right now, with two close wins at PHI and SAC, and realize they aren’t infallible by any stretch, I’ve been working a lot of late nights at DISH the past few weeks, but I love keeping track of the streaks to see who’ll lose first. I got the DISH Anywhere app for my iPad, and can now take all my live TV and DVR wherever I go. It’s a lot nicer watching the game on the bus ride home, and even though the streaks won’t go on forever, it would be a lot of fun seeing Heat/DEN, with the streaks intact, meeting up in the Finals.

The streak may end at some point, but it should never ever be against the worst team in the NBA in Miami’s home court. I know that it seems to be a sure victory for the Heat, but given how lousily the Lakers gave away the game to the Wizards in the Staples Center two nights ago, this may not be a runaway for them. There is also the tendency to get nervous and having the fear of not being able to deliver. Finally, the luck factor has to be factored in as well. Some random Cats player can just explode and be 3-4 times as effective as he normally is, just like Jeff Green in the Heat’s near loss against an otherwise depleted Celtics lineup.

Losing to Charlotte to end this hype will be a dark age for basketball. It will be a painful, terrible, depressing sight. This is well under Miami’s control, but also for them to lose if they do not focus. Just be yourselves and play as if the Bobcats are your Finals rivals (not that they’ll ever get to that stage in this centenary, but still).

I guess most people didn’t watch when the Heat almost lost to the spurs bench. Kawhi Leonard, and Stephen Jackson will make James work for every shot. And the heat aren’t going to stop tony or Duncan. There streak ends at 30

anyone can argue that a team is not as good without superstars, where would Spurs be without Duncan, where would Warriors be without Curry, Lakers without Kobe, Clips without CP3, Heat without Lebron, Hawks without J-Smoove, and so on, and so on. but on the other hand you look at Nuggets: Lawson out, thats okay since they continue to win, Celtics: Rondo out for season, they still continue, Bulls, not been playing with Rose all year, still a slight contender, Pacers without Granger, no problem.. so you can argue each way.

another example could be Thunder without Durant, but now the facts is that Lakers throught they could get together 5 superstars and they would win it all, its just not so simple.

Be real the heat are unstoppable right now, I think the team that can have a slight chance to take the streak out to the heat, will be the one that puts no extra pressure in them trying to be the executioner and be “That Team” everyone right now wants to be the team that puts the end to the streak, take Boston and Cleveland for example, they want it so bad, that came up short and failed, there is no question that the heat want this and they have their pressure, but they can handle it, but if a team comes relax, playing with nothing to loose, just to do what they are supposed to do and not thinking to end the streak, that team will be dangerous and it could be any team, that is why they have to be careful with the underrated teams with no expectations whatsoever, because if you put pressure on yourself, the heat will destroy you because they can handle it. what the heat are doing is very hard and impressive, no matter who you play with, it gets tougher, any team can be dangerous right now, that is why with so many great teams in the history of the NBA has not accomplished such feat. Just hope that any heat player do not harm itself in the journey, because it will get tougher from now. Go Heats!

Even though it may seem like the Heat haven’t really been winning the way they should be, I still think they’ll beat the Spurs and here’s why.
Miami has a sense of beating off the really good teams in blowout fashion, because they put all their energy and focus on it. It’s the game after the Spurs game that I am worried about, because the Heat would be tired, and worn out.

Everyone always gets on Miami for not having the greatest bench players but I disagree. I think that the heat have the best bench because they all fit and play well with the big three and work really hard. and you have to give the head office credit pretty much all of their trades last summer and this year have worked out amazingly. I think this has been really evident this year. I really think that if the heats bench keep it up they can’t be beaten.

Let’s just be happy to what we are seeing now. Quality basketball. Record busting,dramatic comebacks, humble team(expecting a harsh reply from an avid Heat “FAN”). Hating will not take you anywhere. It will just cause you Heart Attack. LOL.

haters will always hate, thats what they do.. even if the heat win 100 games straight they will still hate them.. 25 wins straight is already incredible.. but you know what they say, “you can’t please everybody’

Heat team is great…they are better team than last year..and can give them credit allowing and trusting Ray allen, and in the defensive end Andersen and battier are also big effort for the streak…good luck heat

The three Star player were confident us of now in there talent that is why the streak must go on…more power

well atleast they still have their heads in the right place. that is what brought them down when they first came together. losing a championship really teaches you a lot. were looking at the result of that learning experience.

i really believe that the HEAT will have no problem starting strong in the playoff. even if they dont mention it, its a mental thing, that why they arent starting strong. they kind of always had that problem.

Hey hater dont you know that miami is 23-5 vs the west and they beat OKC at home during this streak, then memphis then 11 other teams on the road. This is the NBA where any team can beat any team on a given night so shut up and watch history happen. Stop hating and realize that this streak is special because they havent lost in 25 games no matter who they play. They have beaten boston, Lakers, OKC, Memphis, Indiana and LA clippers. Stop hating and appreciate good basketball.

For the sake of the game i hope they beat the streak, alot of the older, records need to be broken, just as one day i hope there is someone to match the 100 point game, just to show the evolution of the game and i love seeing greatness every basketball generarion needs it, there are tough games ahead spurs in particular, but every team wants to end the streak, it will be mentioned in every oppositions locker room before the game and they come out fired up, so the heat are getting much more motivated and fired up opponent’s , so to keep the streak going they need to show up with their A games.

I’m not really one of those Heat haters. Having said that, the Heat have won 25 games straight! That’s near perfection in something like 2 months of basketball; give or take. Is it just me, or does it seem very arrogant to state that they still need to make improvements. they’re still not playing their best basketball, says some Heat players. C’mon, they have won 25 games straight. So if they won the rest of their games, does that mean they are finally playing their best!! Give me a break!

What it mean is that they fel like they can still improve – rebounding, starting games gainst bad teams with focus, etc. Nothig arrogant bout it, quite the opposite. Heat are incredibly humble for what they are. No way the Kobe-led Lakers would be this humble with a similar streak. Or any team with loudmouth Jason Terry on it.

The Heat are on an incredible streak, one that the basketball world hasn’t see in OVER 40 years. Most BB fans have never seen a streak like that in their lifetimes, they weren’t even alive in 1971, or they were infants then. Excuse the rest of the caring basketball world for making a big deal about a historic streak like that. What, we should instead talk about the Spurs, who can’t even sell out their arena on a nightly basis despite being #1 in the West, as they get blown out at home by the mediocre Blazers to the tune of 30 points, followed by another blowout at the hands of the mediocre Wolves, or, as happened the other night they play the Jazz at home to a tie in regulation and have to win the game in overtime? Really?

BTW, the Nuggets get some good press lately because they have a long streak of their own. That is what happens with streaking teams, especially when the streak closes in on a historic record that was said to be unbreakable.

A league stronger than ever? Really? LOL. The league is weaker than ever. U obviously weren’t around in the 90s or 80s. All them stars and teams and even rules back then were 10x more intense. Plus they’re in the east. Their competition is a knick team with no defense. A bulls team with no rose and sub par teams. They’ll probably win again. But they should ha.not that impressive. I can see them choking lol

The world is filled with scoundrels and trolls. People who don’t put in effort to succeed wants to succeed. It’s clear that the Heat have been working hard and not resting on their laurels. LET’S GO HEAT!!!

I’m enjoying the run while it lasts, here in Miami, chances are that even if Lebron stays in Miami for the foreseeable future, we might never see a run like this again, at least not during the Big 3 era. This is probably the longest streak they’ll ever go on, I hope it lasts!

The heat streak will end at 29 games – they need to beat the spurs to have a chance of winning 39 straight before the playoffs. I noticed the heat start slow but against the Spurs you can’t do that. You need to start fast and finish strong for all 4 quarters!

The team that will end Miami’s streak will be the San Antonio Spurs! They are the best team in the west and will process a challenge for the heat. First they will end their streak and then give them problems in the finals. People don’t give the Spurs enough respect but when they go up against the heat expect will be in the makings!

LOL you must’ve been born without brain cells or something
the 2009 Cavaliers didn’t have the capabilities or talents to make it past the second round of the Eastern Conference, and you’re going to make the blighted, ridiculous statement that they’re better than a team with a core that has proven capable of winning a championship and is on their way to a second one??
Forget about the fact that Lebron James is probably better now than he was then, forget about the fact that he has a superior supporting cast by every stretch of the imagination in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh (2 players who were on the Olympic team, where the 2009 Cavs didn’t have a single other player worthy of making it on team USA), and forget about the fact that this team is projected to win multiple championships.

Based on the only thing that counts, championships, your comment is invalid

I’m a Heat fan man, just kidding around a bit. I’m enjoying this Miami streak, I’m just concerned that when they do lose they would also lose the fire to fight for it through the playoffs. Other than that, I am comfortable saying that we’re gonna take the Larry O’Brien this year. And the Bill Russell for LeBron.

This is the reason why I love the HEAT,They win every game by 15,by epic comebacks and by close games ans still think they have ALOT to improve,No team is perfect and the miami Heat is no diffrent.
Just love to see them have fun,Work toghther and even dance.
This is coming from a fan who thinks that the best team is the spurs.
Hope to see a 2Peat by the Heat because they showed that they can and will!

I certainly hope so, but don’t get ahead of yourself. There’s a lot you can learn from this heat team, that’s why I admire them so much. Such as stay humble. Don’t take anything for granted. Everything in life is unpredictable, so just stay in the moment and give it all you possibly can of yourself. That’s what they’re doing, and that’s what they need to do.

I believe any team they are playing these days brings their A-Game.. who wouldn’t be the team who stopped the streaking defending champs?
so I’m not surprised if the opponents energy level and motiviation is ridiculously high at the start of the game.

I disagree…the Nuggets still have better chemisty on them…the only reason why they’re winning is because LeBron, Wade and Bosh are playing together…take all three of them away or even LeBron for that matter and they aint worth anything…Nuggets on the other hand have total team chemistry

this doesn’t even make sense. wade, lebron, and bosh are on the same team so if they play well together, doesn’t that mean they have good chemistry too? you obviously need to watch heat’s team defense as well. offensive team chemistry don’t win you championship.

Dont make me laugh. Only thing you need to take away from the nuggets to snap their chances at a big win streak is their homecourt advantage – 600 feet above sea level or whatever. Nuggets are sub .500 on the road and are tied with the heat for best home record in the league…give me a break the nuggets are good but their success seems more dependent on where they play rather than whos playing, whereas miami is just ballin.

Amen to that brother, that guy is currently clinging to the nuggets cause his team the lakers are not playing as well… dude if you’re gonna comment don’t bother going to the places you’re gonna leave a negative comment to. It makes you look bitter and FYI you’re comments have lost all kinds of credibility along time ago.

Nuggets are the deepest team I have ever seen. They’re an offensive juggernaut. Even the Pacers can not keep them away from their paint and can not bound them to just under 95. they have terrific defensive players though I am still wondering WHY their defense is not as tight as it should be.
Nonetheless, no doubt they play beautiful basketball.

oh really is that why they almost lost their game the other night when Lawson was out ? give me a break, your going to have to come up with something better than that and besides, I don’t think you understand what “chemistry” means, there’s nobody with better chemistry than Miami, that’s why their winning. Helllllllloooooooo !! Go Heat !!!

Heat should keep streak going, they have the easiest schedule ever so shouldn’t be problem…all that said and done, it doesn’t really mean anything if a championship is not the crowning glory…just ask the Patriots in the NFL.